Occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings - A review

Heidi Salonen; Tunga Salthammer; Lidia Morawska

Occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings - A review

Heidi Salonen^*
, Tunga Salthammer
, Lidia Morawska

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

The aim of this study was to summarize the extent of occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings. Google Scholar and PubMed were used to search the literature. The calculated median, as well as the mean, concentrations of NO2 in school (median 20.8 µg/m³; mean 26.1 µg/m³) and kindergarten (median 17.2 µg/m³; mean 35.5 µg/m³) buildings were found to be below the World Health Organization (WHO)'s guideline of 40 µg/m³ for the annual mean NO2 concentration. However, mean O2 concentrations in many studies were over 40 µg/m³, indicating situations where the WHO guideline is exceeded. Outdoor levels of NO2 are a reliable predictor of indoor NO2 levels across seasons, with median Indoor/Outdoor (I/O) ratios of 0.7 and 0.8 in school and kindergarten environments, respectively. These findings support the importance of mitigation measures to reduce ambient NO2 levels, and to prevent high levels of NO2 exposure in school and kindergarten buildings.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	16th Conference of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate
Subtitle of host publication	Creative and Smart Solutions for Better Built Environments, Indoor Air 2020
Publisher	Curran Associates Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)	978-1-7138-2360-5
Publication status	Published - 2020
MoE publication type	A4 Conference publication
Event	International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate - Seoul, Korea, Republic of Duration: 1 Nov 2020 → 5 Nov 2020 Conference number: 16 http://www.indoorair2020.org/

Conference

Conference	International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate
Abbreviated title	Indoor Air
Country/Territory	Korea, Republic of
City	Seoul
Period	01/11/2020 → 05/11/2020
Internet address	http://www.indoorair2020.org/

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Indoor air
Indoor/Outdoor ratio
Kindergartens
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
School buildings

Cite this

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title = "Occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings - A review",

abstract = "The aim of this study was to summarize the extent of occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings. Google Scholar and PubMed were used to search the literature. The calculated median, as well as the mean, concentrations of NO2 in school (median 20.8 µg/m3; mean 26.1 µg/m3) and kindergarten (median 17.2 µg/m3; mean 35.5 µg/m3) buildings were found to be below the World Health Organization (WHO)'s guideline of 40 µg/m3 for the annual mean NO2 concentration. However, mean O2 concentrations in many studies were over 40 µg/m3, indicating situations where the WHO guideline is exceeded. Outdoor levels of NO2 are a reliable predictor of indoor NO2 levels across seasons, with median Indoor/Outdoor (I/O) ratios of 0.7 and 0.8 in school and kindergarten environments, respectively. These findings support the importance of mitigation measures to reduce ambient NO2 levels, and to prevent high levels of NO2 exposure in school and kindergarten buildings.",

keywords = "Indoor air, Indoor/Outdoor ratio, Kindergartens, Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), School buildings",

author = "Heidi Salonen and Tunga Salthammer and Lidia Morawska",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 16th Conference of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate: Creative and Smart Solutions for Better Built Environments, Indoor Air 2020. All rights reserved.; International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Indoor Air ; Conference date: 01-11-2020 Through 05-11-2020",

year = "2020",

language = "English",

booktitle = "16th Conference of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate",

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Salonen, H, Salthammer, T & Morawska, L 2020, Occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings - A review. in 16th Conference of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate: Creative and Smart Solutions for Better Built Environments, Indoor Air 2020. Curran Associates Inc., International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 01/11/2020.

Occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings - A review. / Salonen, Heidi; Salthammer, Tunga; Morawska, Lidia.
16th Conference of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate: Creative and Smart Solutions for Better Built Environments, Indoor Air 2020. Curran Associates Inc., 2020.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings - A review

AU - Salonen, Heidi

AU - Salthammer, Tunga

AU - Morawska, Lidia

N1 - Conference code: 16

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - The aim of this study was to summarize the extent of occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings. Google Scholar and PubMed were used to search the literature. The calculated median, as well as the mean, concentrations of NO2 in school (median 20.8 µg/m3; mean 26.1 µg/m3) and kindergarten (median 17.2 µg/m3; mean 35.5 µg/m3) buildings were found to be below the World Health Organization (WHO)'s guideline of 40 µg/m3 for the annual mean NO2 concentration. However, mean O2 concentrations in many studies were over 40 µg/m3, indicating situations where the WHO guideline is exceeded. Outdoor levels of NO2 are a reliable predictor of indoor NO2 levels across seasons, with median Indoor/Outdoor (I/O) ratios of 0.7 and 0.8 in school and kindergarten environments, respectively. These findings support the importance of mitigation measures to reduce ambient NO2 levels, and to prevent high levels of NO2 exposure in school and kindergarten buildings.

AB - The aim of this study was to summarize the extent of occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings. Google Scholar and PubMed were used to search the literature. The calculated median, as well as the mean, concentrations of NO2 in school (median 20.8 µg/m3; mean 26.1 µg/m3) and kindergarten (median 17.2 µg/m3; mean 35.5 µg/m3) buildings were found to be below the World Health Organization (WHO)'s guideline of 40 µg/m3 for the annual mean NO2 concentration. However, mean O2 concentrations in many studies were over 40 µg/m3, indicating situations where the WHO guideline is exceeded. Outdoor levels of NO2 are a reliable predictor of indoor NO2 levels across seasons, with median Indoor/Outdoor (I/O) ratios of 0.7 and 0.8 in school and kindergarten environments, respectively. These findings support the importance of mitigation measures to reduce ambient NO2 levels, and to prevent high levels of NO2 exposure in school and kindergarten buildings.

KW - Indoor air

KW - Indoor/Outdoor ratio

KW - Kindergartens

KW - Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

KW - School buildings

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85101658016

UR - https://www.proceedings.com/57711.html

M3 - Conference article in proceedings

AN - SCOPUS:85101658016

BT - 16th Conference of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate

PB - Curran Associates Inc.

T2 - International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate

Y2 - 1 November 2020 through 5 November 2020

ER -

Occupants' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in European school and kindergarten buildings - A review

Abstract

Conference

UN SDGs

Keywords

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Cite this